1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sterilizing apparatus and to an ion generating apparatus and, more particularly, to a sterilizing apparatus and an ion generating apparatus, which generate cations and anions to sterilize air.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an air purifier comprises a filter installed in a housing for filtering out various impurities, an air blast fan for transporting indoor air to the inside of the housing and discharging the air to the outside of the housing after the air passes through the filter and an anion generating apparatus for generating anions.
When the air blast fan of the air purifier is driven, the indoor air is purified through the filter and is discharged together with the anions, which are generated by the anion generating apparatus, to an indoor space. Since a conventional air purifier with an anion generating apparatus is limited when sterilizing air using only a filter and anions, an ion generating apparatus for generating cations and anions has been developed. Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2003-123940 discloses one such ion generating apparatus for generating cations and anions in detail.
In the above conventional ion generating apparatus, an alternating current (AC) is applied to two electrodes to alternately generate cations and anions, which are then supplied to an indoor space. The generated cations are hydrogen ions (H+), and the generated anions are superoxide anions (O2−). When the hydrogen ions (H+) and the superoxide anions (O2−) are supplied to the indoor space, hydroxyl radicals (OH) or hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) are produced. The hydroxyl radicals (OH) or hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) attach to bacteria, thereby causing an oxidation reaction, which destroys the bacteria.
However, the above conventional ion generating apparatus discharges hydrogen ions, which are harmful to the human body, into the indoor space. Accordingly, when the hydrogen ions are inhaled by a user, the hydrogen ions injure the user's health.
Further, since, in the conventional ion generating apparatus, the same electrodes alternately generate cations and anions, considerably large amounts of cations and anions bond with each other, thereby dissipating prior to performing the sterilizing action.
Moreover, since, in the conventional ion generating apparatus, the same electrodes alternately generate cations and anions, the conventional ion generating apparatus cannot generate ions in sufficient amounts required for sterilizing the air in a short period of time.